Just a Number

A tongue in cheek look at ageing. I wrote this when I was 50 and organising a joint party with two friends who were 30 and 40, respectively. Now that I'm 62 perhaps I'd better add another verse...

When you reach the age of thirty

You can still act kind of flirty

Workmen whistle, shout and hoot as you pass by

Your clothes can pass as trendy

Your body's fairly bendy

And you're not past giving fit young men the eye.

When you reach the age of forty

You might still be quite sporty

But your body's showing signs of stress and strain

Posh beauty creams and lotions

Are now mere distant notions

You'd rather buy that stuff that soothes the pain.

When you reach the age of fifty

You may think you're fairly nifty

Till you try to run ten yards to catch a tram

Body parts that once were perky

Now resemble uncooked turkey

And your favourite group is still that lovely Wham!

What the young ones don't know yet

Is that however old you get

Your age is just a number on a line

You can add it or subtract it

Expand it or contract it

But best - if you ignore it you'll be fine.

Reviews

[C J Heyworth]

So full of exactly what aging brings (though I've never had workmen whistle from their building sites, thank heavens) - love the sense of humour, and I can imagine your voice as you read this.
In my head I'm still in my early 20s until I try to run for a bus or a tram - you are so right ! It is poetry and mixing with lots of lively-minded people which make me sure that my 68 is just a number.

[Jill Reidy]

Lol! Yes, this really was a very light hearted little ditty, to which my mum added a verse after reading it - I've asked her to post her verse under mine on FB :-) Thanks for comments xx

[C J Heyworth]

I'd be grateful for your observations on the Alan Bennett poetry anthology review I've just put up on Fb - I hate the "hiding away as too important" the treatment by Exam Boards of so much great poetry which I think puts off 95% of poetry's potential audience.

[Samuel Dickens]

This one made me laugh, and I especially liked "fairly bendy" and "uncooked turkey" At my age of 66, I'm afraid my turkey might be cooked. Stuffed, too, perhaps. Oh, well, what can you do? Make light of it as you've done--that's the ticket.